Gordon,
of course it's _possible_ to hand-code anything, but I don't think it's practical to hand-code popups unless you really understand the architecture. Popups are obscenely complex to manage compared to some of the other things.
I know we're all keen to get popups from buttons, links and menu items but I think it's best to hold on until they're in the template. Shouldn't be too long now.
Cheers
Bruce